F-16 History

The squadron had been disbanded for over a decade when it was reactivated to receive a batch of older block 15 airframes coming from the disbanded 144 squadron. These airframes originally came from the US in a program called Peace Marbel IV back in 1994. Originally delivered as block 10 airframes, they have seen extensive modification to bring them up to block 15 standards.

The reason to reactivate 115 squadron was for the Israeli Air Force to have a dedicated aggressor squadron. Equal to the findings of the USAF back in the 1970’s, the Israeli’s found that a dedicated aggressor squadron in house posed a lot of opportunities. Firstly, they aren’t dependant on their US counterparts for the necessary training. Secondly, a pool of highly qualified pilots is trained on the largest weapon platform in the inventory. Thirdly, the older block 15 airframes are perfectly suited for this job with their lighter weight then later blocks and these airframes can be used for an extended time since they are deemed a little outdated for regular military missions. In the mean time, these airframes are kept in a flyable state, which is quite important for the IDFAF as reinforcements in an eventual conflict.

IDF/AF F-16A block 10 #233 of the 115th "Flying Dragon" Squadron touching down on the runway on August 8th, 2005. [Photo by Ofer Zidon]

Although used as agressors, the aircraft keep their standard Israeli sand-brown livery. Israel hopes to lower costs of international deployments to such places as 'Red Flag' and 'Maple Flag' by reproducing these exercises at home.

On December 16th, 2016 the squadron flew the last mission with the F-16A fighter which ended a carreer of the jet of 36 year within the IDFAF. The exact future of the squadron is unknown. It wasn't disbanded as it also still flies the AH-1 Cobra helicopter, but whether the IDFAF will choose another aircraft to furfill the agressor role in the future is still unknown.

In April of 2017 the first F-16C block 30 arrived with the squadron continuing the agressor legacy of the unit. More jets will be delivered in the course of the year.

Aircraft Markings History

2005 - present

The tail consists of the squadron batch in black coloring on the tail's aft edge with the serial number just above the tail base.